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A&O launches in Australia

First - this will not impact A+O profit wise because they will cap what their partners earn and they will not have to pay their staff same rates as in UK. Despite what many people in the UK think the top Australian firms operate at excellent margins above 40% (I know as I was a partner at one). Second, this move is not about Japan (as some suggested above) it is about providing (in relative terms) a lower cost platform that can provide high quality lawyers in reasonable bulk to support A&O in China, Indonesia, Singapore and India - it provides perfect funnel to move quality lawyers to these offices at much lower cost than resourcing from the UK. And if anyone knew the region they would also know that China investment in Australia is growing by the day and resource sector is key - what better way to grab a lot of China outbound work than to have a good operation in Beijing and Shanghai and a good sizeable "real" office in OZ. I think it is an exceptionally smart move.

12-Feb-2010

1:04 am